2010-06-02 - Pinetops plant receives Gold Award for Safety Performance for fifth consecutive year
On Tuesday, the annual North Carolina Safety Awards Banquet was held at the Gateway Convention Center in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The event was sponsored by the Rocky Mount Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the North Carolina Department of Labor. The banquet's tag line was, "These awards represent pain that was never felt, medical bills and workmen's compensation that never had to be paid by either employees or employers, and employee hours and production never lost to recuperation."
Several members of the ABB's Pinetops staff and Safety Star Team attended the banquet on behalf of the facility to accept the Gold Award for Safety Performance. Gold Awards are given to those companies whose rate of days away from work, job transfer, or restriction is at least 50% below the industry average. 2009 marked the fifth consecutive year that the ABB's Pinetops facility has won this prestigious award.
The guest speaker for the evening was Cherie K. Berry, North Carolina Commissioner of Labor, who also handed out the awards. During her speech, Cherie mentioned her background as an employee for a company that made spark plug wires and inspired her nickname "Sparky." She also touched on the recent economic changes, noting that these things are cyclical and often act just like a roller coaster, "you get hurt if you jump out, so hang on tight, because these rides can be both exciting and scary at the same time, but if you just hold on, you'll be okay." Commissioner Berry also stated how she firmly believes that education and training have made the difference in North Carolina's safety record.
Safety Star Team member, Yvonne Johnson accepted the Gold Award on behalf of the Pinetops team from Commissioner Berry at the close of the event. All seven of the Pinetops attendees enjoyed seeing the success in safety that they and their co-workers earned with smart, safe work practices. The Pinetops team looks forward to winning their sixth award in 2010, along with their formal recognition for hitting two million hours without a lost time incident.